The City of Edmonton will be hosting its Green Shack program at Ellerslie Crossing Park again this summer, from July 2 to August 22. This popular free kids’ program will be taking place Monday to Friday afternoons from 2:30 to 6:00 p.m. The City of Edmonton also offers a variety of day camps for children and drop-in programs for youth near our community; visit edmonton.ca for more information.

WHEN: Saturday, May 31, 2014, from noon to 3 p.m.
WHERE: Mill Woods Park, in the parking lot adjacent to the bike path at 28 Avenue & Lakewood Road East

Spring is here and with it comes the Mill Woods Bicycle Festival, a one-day family event in Mill Woods Park that will showcase the fun of cycling. We would like to invite you and your family to come and be a part of the fun. It’s free!

Young and old can decorate their bikes and join the parade at 12:30 p.m.

Try a fruit smoothie made in a pedal-powered blender — and you’re doing the pedaling!

***UPDATE*** The Ellerslie Crossing cleanup was rescheduled due to bad weather. It will now be happening Saturday, May 10, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. Free coffee, hot chocolate and pizza will still be served!

Spring is finally here, and it’s time to get our parks ready to enjoy for the summer! Please join us from 10:00 a.m. to noon this Saturday, May 3, at Charlesworth Park and Sunday, May 4, at Ellerslie Crossing Park to help clean up our green spaces. Garbage bags and gloves will be provided by Capital City Clean Up.

Free coffee will be available for volunteers, and the new Boston Pizza on Ellerslie Road is generously providing a free pizza lunch to volunteers as well. So if you have a couple of hours to spare, this is a great opportunity to meet your neighbours, enjoy free coffee and pizza, and help beautify the green spaces we all enjoy. Hope to see you there!

Ellerlsie Community League is hosting a Community Garage Sale/Family Fun Day on Saturday, May 24, 2014 at the Ellerslie Curling Club from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Whether you want to browse the items for sale, sell items yourself, or enjoy the family-fun activities, you’re bound to enjoy this event! While the garage sale is happening, there will be a barbecue, a bouncy castle, face painting, horseshoes, and more. Also, balloon artist Phileas Flash will be on hand to share his amazing talent!

If you’d like to rent a table, please read the Rental Information document, then fill out the Registration Form and mail it or drop it off along with your payment to Alicia Staub (address in registration form; please contact Alicia at social@ellersliecommunityleague.com or 780-965-3521 to get more information or make arrangements to drop payment off). The table rental fee for Ellerslie Community League members is $25, non-members $35, and home-based businesses $40.

Bottle Drive for Charlesworth Park

There will also be a bottle drive for Charlesworth Park taking place at the Community Garage Sale. Please bring your empty bottles and cans to the event if you’d like to donate them to help upgrade the playground at Charlesworth Park. Construction on the playground is scheduled to begin this spring, and we would love to make it the best it can be!

If you’re looking for a program that will help your child stay active, make friends and have a great time — and one that takes place close to home — Sportball at Grace Point Church might be just the program you’re looking for! These popular classes will be taking place at the church on Thursday evenings from April 10 to June 26, and Ellerslie Community League members will receive a $15 discount per semester per child (discount is not available in online registration; please email edmonton@sportball.ca to register in order to get the discount).

Don’t have a community league membership? You can buy one right online right now! It’s only $25 for the whole family for the year, so you can quickly get your money’s worth if you register more than one child or register your child(ren) for more than one session!

Sportball Methodology

Encouraging healthy active living

By applying our methodology, Sportball helps children to develop socially as well as physically, through a curriculum designed to reinforce self-confidence free from the pressure of competition. In our programs, children from 16 months to 12 years of age, are provided with a skills-driven, high-energy and fun-filled curriculum. Sportball Multi-Sport programs introduce children to the fundamental concepts and skills behind eight popular ball sports: baseball, football, basketball, golf, hockey, soccer, tennis and volleyball. Using creative instruction and positive encouragement, our programs focus on the development of gross motor skills, along with balance, strength, co-ordination, stamina and timing. The equipment that we use is age-appropriate and sized just right for the children in our programs. Sportball offers weekly classes that are run seasonally, as well as camps and clinics during school holidays. Birthday parties and special events can be arranged to fit into your schedule. We offer Sportball programs right in the community in churches, community centres, schools, daycares, private clubs, parks and other green spaces.

While our technological gadgets can help us connect with others, spending too much time in a virtual world can prevent us from interacting meaningfully with our family and friends. Taking an occasional break from all the electronic devices in our lives can help us reconnect with our loved ones and make us feel refreshed.

With this in mind, the Family and Community Support Services Association of Alberta would like to invite everyone to participate in its Family Day Unplugged initiative. The goal of the event is simple: “Disconnect to connect with yourself, your family and your community.” Here’s your challenge, should you choose to accept it:

On Family Day (Monday, February 17), put away your phone, shut down your computer, power off your TV, and ignore all other electronic devices. Instead, spend quality time with your friends and family, read a good book, play outside, or enjoy your technology-free time any other way you see fit.

That’s it! Keep track of how many hours you spend “unplugged,” then visit the FCSS website the next day to log your hours and share your story. For more information, visit the FCSS website.

Winterfête: Family Day at the Legislature

If you’re looking for an event that will help keep you and your family unplugged on Family Day, why not take a trip downtown? Winterfête, taking place at the Alberta Legislature (10800 97 Avenue) from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Family Day, will provide you with tons of technology-free — and just plain FREE — fun.

There are indoor activities like a legislature scavenger hunt, magic shows and puppet shows, face painting and crafts, as well as outdoor activities like horse-drawn wagon rides, snowman-making competitions, and skating on the south grounds rink, featuring a performance by Royal Glenora Skating Club. You can also enjoy hot chocolate in a heated tent while attending autograph sessions with local sports celebrities, including the Edmonton Eskimos.

Join us at the Ellerslie Curling Club in Wernerville (530 71 Street SW) on Saturday, March 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a day of FREE family fun! Whether you’re an avid curler or have never tried the sport, you and your family are invited to drop in and play. Instruction and brooms are available — all you need to bring is a clean pair of shoes!